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THE 



First Election of Washington 



House of Burgesses. 



APER READ BEFORE THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
^ V, DECEMBER 22, 189I, 



iviK. r\. 1. biiiviON, Winchester, Va. 




The First Election of Washington 

TO THE 

House of Burgessks. 



Men are generally proved to be great by a happy conjunction 
of opportunity and fitness. This detracts nothing from their 
fame, only there are many other men quite as great, to whom 
the happy conjunction does not occur. Those are the men who 
are born to blush unseen. But the common events of men's 
lives are very nearly the same, whether they are great or not. 
When they are recognized as great, however, we judge them 
almost wholly by their great deeds, and lose sight of the inci- 
dents that prove their common mortality. There is even a 
prejudice against uncovering the facts that show our idols to 
have been mortal. The realistic spirit of this age, however, 
which disregards this prejudice, has a healthy influence, provided 
it is not inspired by mere iconoclastic rage. 

It is in this modified spirit that I have ventured to put together, 
for this occasion, the results of some investigations made years 
ago, aided by discoveries made by others more recently, on a 
subject which has received but little attention from history. I 
mean the first election of George Washington to the House of 
Burgesses, the predecessor of the body which sits now in this 
historic hall. 

This election occurred in the year 1758, and Washington's 
first appearance in the role of statesman was in his capacity as 
representative for the county of Frederick, of which my own 
town of Winchester was then, as it is now, the county seat. 



116 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

In 175S, Frederick county consisted of what is now the terri- 
tory embraced within the Hmits of the counties of Frederick, 
Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah and Page, in Virginia, and Berke- 
ley, Jefferson and Morgan, in West Virginia, comprising the 
whole of what is known as " the Lower Valley." 

Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela occurred in 1755, and 
after that Washington, with the rank of colonel, was in com- 
mand of the Virginia troops at Winchester. In the spring of 
1756 he built for the protection of the inhabitants of that town 
and of the frontier generally. Fort Loudoun, then at the north 
end of a very straggling village, and through the centre of which 
the main street of the present town (called from the fort, Loudoun 
street) now runs ; and even at this day the well-defined and 
greenly sodded bastions of Washington's fort are the play- 
grounds for the pretty girls of a prosperous female school. 

In the summer of 1757, George Washington was one of three 
candidates for a seat from Frederick county in the House of 
Burgesses. It has been sometimes said that he was not then 
really a candidate, but a well preserved local tradition hath it 
that he was genuinely ambitious to serve the people, but that 
having opposed the granting ot a license to keep an ordinary to 
one Lindsay, as the records in truth show that he did, the said 
Lindsay successfully revenged himself by defeating his candi- 
dacy. The Lindsays have been ordinary keepers in that town 
up to within my own recollection, and the tradition of the fight 
of Lindsay against Washington has ever been a cherished 
memory in the line of Lindsay. 

The opponents of Washington in that contest were Hugh 
West and Thomas Swearingen, and these two were duly elected. 
The poll stood as follows : 

Hugh West, - ... . 271 

Thomas Swearingen,' ... 270 
George Washington, - - - 40 



Total vote, - - - - 581 



' Thomas Swearingen was probably an ancestor of Thomas Van 
Swearingen, a representative in Congress from Virginia from 1819 until 
his death in 1S22.— Ed. 



THE FIRST ELECTION OF WASHINGTON IN I758. 117 

On October 4, 1757, the records of the county court show the 
following entry: "On motion of George Washington, Esq., 
ordered that his tithables be set on the list," from which it may 
be inferred that the redoubtable Lindsay may have urged the 
non-residency of the gallant young colonel as an objection to his 
election, and in anticipation of another appeal to popular favor 
he was determined to remove this obstacle to the gratification 
of his ambition. 

In May. 1758, Washington became engaged to be married to 
the widow Custis, who had worn her weeds a full twelve months, 
but as he was then just about to start on the second e.xpedition to 
Fort Duquesne the marriage did not immediately take place, 
and it was not until the succeeding January that the old church 
in New Kent county witnessed the brave spectacle of the stalwart 
warrior as a bridegroom in a suit of blue cloth " lined," says the 
detailed account, "with red silk and ornamented with silver 
trimmings, a waistcoat of embroidered white satin, knee-buckles 
of gold, and powdered hair." That this contemplated marriage 
had something to do with our hero's so quickly repeated can- 
didacy is a surmise that is not far to seek. 

The next election for the House of Burgesses, after Washing- 
ton's unsuccessful venture, took place on the 24th day of July, 
1758, and the poll stood as follows : 



Colonel George Washington, - - 310 

Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin, - - 240 

Hugh West, .... igg 

Thomas Swearingen, - - - 45 



Total vote, - - - - 794 



So Washington largely defeated his opponents who the year 
before had defeated him. It i.s with this election that we have 
now to do, and to show the increase in the voting population it 
is interesting to observe that at the next election, which took 
place on May 18, 1761, the vote stood as follows : 



118 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

George Washington, ... 505 

George Mercer,^ .... ggg 
Adam Stephen,' .... 294 

Total vote, - - - - 1,198 

■» 

Before considering the incidents of Washington's first election, 
let us very briefly enquire who were the men who had been thus 
preferred to Washington, and to whom in turn he was himself 
preferred ? 

Of Hugh West no record remains, except that he was thus 
connected with the name of Washington. He is, perhaps, neither 
better nor worse off in this respect than many another local light 
who had shined for a time in this and even much higher places. 

Of Thomas Swearingen, who did not make even so good a 
fight in the last list as did the forgotten West, we find that much 
more has been preserved. 

He lived near what is now Shepherdstown, in the county of 
Jefferson. The published Acts show that in 1766 the House of 
Burgesses ordered the privilege of establishing a ferry over the 
Potomac river, which in 1765 had been accorded to Thomas 
Shepherd, to be discontinued, because it was "at a very small 
distance from the lands of Thomas Swearingen on the Potomac 
river in Maryland." 

In May, 1772, Thomas Swearingen was made by Lord Dun- 
more a Justice of the Peace of Berkeley county, which was in 
that year cut off from Frederick. He is mentioned in the 



'George Mercer (born June 23, 1733; served as lieutenant and captain 
in the regiment of Washington in the French and Indian War. He 
went to England in 1763 as the agent of the Ohio Company, of which 
his father, John Metcer, of Marlboro', Virginia, was secretary ; returned 
to Virginia in 1765 as collector for the Crown under the Stamp Act, 
but found the measure so obno.xious that he declined to act. Going to 
England again he was appointed (September 17, 176S), through the in- 
fluence of Lord Hillsborough, Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina, 
but soon relinquished this office. He returned to England prior to the 
Revolution; and died there in April, 1784. — Ed. 

^Colonel Adam Stephen, who served with Washington in the French 
and Indian War, and as Brigadier and Major-General in the American 
Revolution. — Ed. 



THE FIRST ELECTION OF WASHINGTON IN 1758. 119 

records of the court as one of those appointed to take the litha- 
bles, and on August 18, 1772, he figures in the Hst of Justices 
of Berkeley county, who, at that term of the court, tried one 
Richard Lewis for forgery, and he, pleading guilty, was ordered 
to receive "thirty-nine lashes well laid on upon his bare back." 
This was the first criminal conviction in the new county. 

On November 15, 1772, Thomas Swearingen appears as one 
of the Justices directing the building of the first court-house of 
Berkeley county. 

These prosaic facts are all that are known of Swearingen, and 
only saved from the oblivion of commonplaceness by his associ- 
ation with the name of Washington, he sinks finally out of sight 
just as the star of Washington was about to rise, to shine for- 
ever. 

Of his colleague in his first service in the House of Burgesses, 
Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin, much more is known, for he was 
a somewhat conspicuous figure in the Valley part of the Colony, 
and even afterwards when it became a State, throughout his whole 
life. But because so much is known, or may so readily be learned 
about him, it is necessary to tell but little. 

Colonel Martin was a nephew of Lord Fairfa.x and intimately 
connected with him in his aftairs. He lived at " Greenway 
Court," and was there when his uncle died — a death hastened, tra- 
dition says, by chagrin at the surrender of Cornwallis. 

Martin was Colonel of the county militia and a justice of the 
peace under the old regime. In 1776 he was re-appointed by 
Governor Patrick Henry, but his heart was too much with the 
cause of George HI to permit him to serve under, or to recog- 
nize rebel authority. He served one term with Washington in 
the House of Burgesses, but does not seem to have offered for 
re-election. 

On the deaih of Lord Fairfax, he became, with Gabriel Jones, 
one of his uncle's executors. Thenceforth his name figured 
e.xtensively in the litigation which resulted about Lord Fairfax's 
estate. The lawyers of the present day even are familiar with 
the case of Martin's Adm'r vs. Tucker, &c., in which the 
devisees in England of Denny Fairfax, the elder brother of 
Colonel Martin and of himself, were the plaintifis. 



120 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

But we must return now to the main topic of this paper — the 
election in the summer of 1758. 

There was only one precinct in the county, and that was at 
the court-house at Winchester. To that point the voters had 
to come to exercise their right of suffrage. Considering the 
bad roads and the danger of the times, it seems remarkable that 
as many as seven hundred and ninety-four voters should have 
come to the poll. 

The qualification of a voter was that he should be a freeholder 
of one hundred (shortly after reduced to fifty) acres of unim- 
proved land, or twenty five acres with a building thereon at least 
twelve feet square, or of a lot in a city or town with a similarly 
pretentious building thereon, provided however, that " no free 
negro, mulatto, or Indian, altho a freeholder, should be per- 
mitted to vote." 

The presence of this proviso, so unhappily eliminated now 
from the law, made wholly unnecessary the shuffling slippery 
secret ballot system, with its opportunities for box-stuffing, tissue 
ballots, and fraudulent miscounts, the fruits of a later civilization, 
but the voter declared his choice openly viva voce, without con- 
cealment or chance of subsequent false pretences. Nor was the 
aspirant for popular favor ashamed to openly acknowledge his 
appreciation of the confidence reposed in him by the elector; 
but it was the custom of the day for the candidate or his repre- 
sentative, in his necessary absence, to take his seat at the poll, 
and when the voter called out his name to rise and thank him 
for the honor done him. 

At the election of 1758 the principal public interest was in the 
effort to obtain regular and sufficient allowances and supplies for 
the militia and volunteers who for some years had been constantly 
engaged in the protection of the frontier settlements. The 
French war was flagrant, and the French and Indians were a 
constant menace to the peace and safety of the people of Fred- 
erick county. But a short time before the whole -country had 
been overwhelmed by the disastrous defeat of Braddock, and at 
the very time of this election the forces were gathering again at 
Fort Cumberland for another move on the same line upon Fort 
Duquesne. 

Washington was not then twenty-six years of age, but his gal- 



THE FIRST ELECTION OF WASHINGTON IN 175S. 121 

lant and successful conduct of aflairs on the retreat after Brad- 
dock's death had given him a military reputation of a high order 
and a strong hold upon the affections of the people of Frederick, 
who were nearest to and most interested in those army move- 
ments so essential to their safety, although, as we have seen, 
Colonel Washington's distinguished military services had not 
been sufficient to overcome the wiles of the subtle Lindsay, who 
kept an ordinary and sold whiskey to the Colonel's soldiers. 

Washington was, of course, acquainted with the principal peo- 
ple of the sparsely settled county, for the construction of the 
Fort and his command there brought him in constant contact 
with them, and then besides there were two trading fairs held 
annually at Winchester, which brought the people up from the 
outlying settlements and gave occasion to more or less social 
interchange. 

Washington's correspondence at this time shows that he had 
become wearied with military life and somewhat disgusted with 
the discriminations made against the Colonial, in favor of the 
imported British officer, and he had determined at the end of 
the then pending campaign to retire Irom the service into pri- 
vate life. 

But it is not a strained inference that other considerations than 
political ambition or a desire to taste once more the sweets of a 
quiet bucolic life influenced Washington to forego his military 
aspirations. As we have seen, he had become engaged to the 
charming widow Custis, and his marriage to her was only await- 
ing the end of the military campaign. A winter then in the gay 
Capital at Williamsburg was a delightful way of spending the 
honeymoon, and it is by no means improbable that the young 
woman herselt suggested a seat in the House of Burgesses as 
adding something to dignity, making retirement from military 
service graceful, and, indeed, as being altogether such a nice 
thing — under the circumstances. 

Possibly the habit was begun with Washington's candidacy, 
and for that reason has been kept up ever since, but the good 
people of Frederick dislike to award to aspirants for their favor 
what is known in modern phrase as a " walk-over." 

We have seen that the year before the Colonel sustained what 
may be considered a rather bad defeat. This time, however, he 



122 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

had the powerful support of Colonel James Wood,* the clerk oi 
the county court, and it may be even that the hostile Lindsay 
had been converted or silenced, but of this tradition saith not. 
The memory of the oldest inhabitant, however, has handed it 
down that Colonel James Wood was a good deal of a political 
" Boss," but the sturdy and honorable character borne by his 
descendants leave me no room to doubt that he deserved the 
influence he evidently possessed with the frontier voter. 

Colonel Wood appears to have managed without difficulty his 
own promotion to office, but it was at one time thought that the 
effort to pull Colonel Washington through would prove too 
much even for his sagacity and pluck. So anxious, indeed, were 
the friends of Washington about this election, and so fearful of 
his defeat, that they importuned the Colonel to leave his military 
command and come back to the county and see the voters in 
person. Colonel Bouquet, Washington's immediate military 
superior, wrote, giving him leave of absence, and on July 19, 
1758, Washington replied, thanking him for his courtesy and 
saying: "Although my being there, under any other circum- 
stances, would be very agreeable to me, yet I can hardly per- 
suade myself to think of being absent from my more immediate 
duty, even for a few days. ' ' And again some days later he wrote : 
" I had, before Colonel Stephen came to this place, abandoned all 
thoughts of attending personally the election at Winchester, 
choosing rather to leave the management of that affair to my 
friends than be absent from my regiment when there is a 
probability of its being called to duty. I am much pleased now 
fhat I did so." 

The letter of congratulation upon the result of the election , 
preserved in a note to the collection of Mr. Jared Sparks, affords 
but a meagre glimpse of what actually occurred, but a story, 
partly tradition and in part history, throws some light upon the 
opposition to Washington's candidacy. Supposing the offended 
Lindsay to have been appeased, or his influence at least over- 
weighed by that of Colonel James Wood, it is yet said that 
Colonel Washington had to overcome the decided opposition of 



♦ He was the father of Colonel James Wood, a patriot of the Ameri- 
can Revolution and Governor of Virginia, lyge-'gg. — Ed. 



THE FIRST ELECTION OF WASHINGTON IN I758. 123 

certain dealers in live stock along the Potomac. When Brad- 
dock marched from Alexandria to fort Cumberland he had to 
tarry at the latter place until he could collect horses enough to 
pull his wagons in the long and rough expedition that he then 
contemplated. Certain enterprising speculators undertook to 
supply this need, and in course of time arrived at the Fort with 
several hundred horses. It was Washington's duty to inspect 
them, and when with his fine idea of what an animal ought to 
be, to do the hard duty which this occasion required of it, he found 
instead a herd of thin, infirm and aged horses, which had out- 
lived or overworked their usefulness on the Valley farms, he is 
said to have expressed himself in language the exact meaning of 
which there could be no sort of ditticulty in understanding. The 
noble band of patriots who had thus undertaken to supply their 
country's need of horses is said to have borne his remarks and 
their results in mind when so soon after he offered himself for 
their suffrages, and to have exhibited their energy and enmity in 
determined opposition to his election. 

It is not at all improbable, therefore, all things considered, 
that it was more politic for the Colonel to have stayed away from 
the county, and to have left, as he says, " the management of 
that affair to my Iriends." With Colonel Wood for a manager he 
was probably safer in the line of conciliation than if he had been 
present in person; for Washington, while he knew well how to 
keep his tongue in his head, yet when he let it out was disposed 
to be rather frr.nk. 

As we have seen. Colonel Wood sat at the poll as Washing- 
ton's representative, a very large vote was cast and Washington 
was triumphantly elected. That night, when the vote was 
counted, the Winchester boys took Colonel Wood on their 
shoulders and gave him a vicarious ride for Washington around 
the town, " in the midst," says a contemporaneous writer, " of 
a general applause and huzzahmg for Colonel Washington." 

It is not unlikely that, alter the fashion of the day on all occa- 
sions of public rejoicing, bon-fires were built, and it is altogether 
certain that "fire water" was plenty, and a lively party must 
have waked the echoes of the village on that summer night. 
For while the gallant Colonel was kept by duty at his military 
post, he was yet sufficiently alive to the necessities of the occa- 



124 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

sion to supply the means of conducting his canvass. After the 
election the bill for its expenses was sent to him and he paid it, 
after, no doubt, as was his wont, a careful inspection of its items. 
The bill was ^39, 6s. (about $195), and the following were 
among the items : " A hogshead and a barrel of punch, thirty- 
five gallons of wine, forty-three gallons of strong cider, and 
dinner for his friends." 

In the "good old times" people were probably no better than 
they are now, and it is not a little comfort to us of this day and 
generation to reflect that Washington was himself but a human 
being, and "stood treat" just like any ordinary candidate for 
the Legislature finds himself compelled to do sometimes in these 
so-called degenerate days. 

That Frederick county was not an exception in the way of 
conducting elections on other than strictly temperance principles 
is shown by the law passed by the House of Burgesses soon 
after the election of 1758, which provides that no one should be 
qualified to hold a seat in that house, who should, " before his 
election, either himself or by any other person or persons on 
his behalf and at his charge, directly or indirectly give, present 
or allow any person or persons having voice or vote in such elec- 
tion any money, meat, drink, entertainment or provision, or 
make any present, gift, reward, or entertainment, &c., &c., in 
order to be elected." 

It is hardly to be supposed that this law was aimed at the 
worthy delegate from Frederick, but it fit his case so exactly 
that had it been in force prior to his election he would certainly 
have been ineligible to his seat. For seven years Wash- 
ington continued to represent Frederick county, but there is no 
record of any incident of interest connected with his subsequent 
elections. As a law-abiding citizen it is to be presumed that 
thereafter meat and drink, except in the ordinary way of hospi- 
tality, were not among the means resorted to by Washington 
and his friends to secure popular favor. 

When the pessimists of to day, justly resenting the ways that 
are dark which so often prevail in what is known as politics, pre- 
dict therefrom the speedy downfall of the Republic, it is well to 
remember how very old these ways are, and from what respecta- 



THE FIRST ELECTION OF WASHINGTON IN I758. 125 

ble antecedents many of them have come, and while not approv- 
ing them, yet to bear in mind tliat in spite of them and of very 
many other imperfections in tiiese institutions of ours, the land 
continues to flourish the equal in valor and in virtue of any other, 
and in material prosperity outstripping all the nations of the 
earth. 

R. T. Barton. 




